Report Template (formal meetings)

Report to:	Pension Committee
Date of meeting:	16 June 2023
By:	Chief Finance Officer
Title:	East Sussex Pension Fund (ESPF) 2022/23 Outturn report
Purpose:	This report provides the financial outturn of the ESPF for the 2022/23 financial year

RECOMMENDATIONS

The Pension Committee is recommended to note the report.

1. Background

1.1 This report provides the outturn financial position for 2022/23 for the East Sussex Pension Fund (the Fund or ESPF).

1.2 The business plan and budget sets out the direction of travel, objectives and targets to be achieved in the management of the Fund. The budget and business plan for 2022/23 was approved by the Pension Committee at its meeting on 24 February 2022.

1.3 As reported at the last meeting on 22 February 2023, the budget estimates do not incorporate any provision for investment fees earned by the alternative fund managers since these are deducted at source by asset managers.

2. 2022/23 Final Outturn Position

2.1 The budget requirements for 2022/23 were set at £7.141m (£7.205m 2021/22) to support the Business Plan activities and administration of the Fund.

2.2 The final outturn position of 2022/23 is £5.743 (forecast £5.793m in Q3), a decrease of £0.050m from the last reported position. The 2022/23 outturn against budget line items is shown in the table below.

2.3 The underspend mostly relates to other administration projects which have been postponed whilst awaiting clarification from government and manager fees being invoiced lower than anticipated due to negative investment performance in the quarter. These were offset by some increases on staff costs recharges from East Sussex County Council and external audit fees. The main movements to the budget are detailed in Paragraphs 2.4 to 2.7.

2022/23 Outturn Report

2021/22 Outturn	Item	2022/23 Budget	2022/23 Actual Outturn	2022/23 Forecast Outturn Q3	Variance to Previous Quarter
£000	Item	£000	£000	£000	£000
	Pension Fund Staff Costs
1,234	Staffing	1,900	1,483	1,435	(48)
2	Recruitment costs	5	(1)	-	1
1,236	Sub Total	1,905	1,482	1,435	(47)
	Pension Fund Oversight and Governance
55	Actuarial	200	125	133	8
57	Employer Actuarial work	80	69	76	7
(38)	Employer recharges	(80)	(76)	(77)	(1)
-	Governance consultancy costs	-	70	60	(10)
-	Communications	42	7	5	(2)
8	Training Costs	30	13	20	7
47	External Audit – Grant Thornton	35	59	24	(35)
279	East Sussex County Council recharges	249	206	184	(22)
56	Legal Fees	78	56	55	(1)
70	Subscriptions and Other Expenses	72	87	81	(6)
534	Sub Total	706	616	561	(55)
	Investment activities
216	Investment Advice	135	155	150	(5)
21	ESG Advice	50	24	24	-
139	Custodian	136	101	97	(4)
110	ACCESS	125	117	125	8
3,210	Investment Manager Fee Invoices	2,872	2,175	2,208	33
3,696	Sub Total	3,318	2,572	2,604	32
	Pension Administration
150	East Sussex County Council recharges	281	194	198	4
98	System Services and License	346	378	394	16
156	Consultancy & Service Providers - Benefits	100	206	218	12
-	Other Administration projects	150	13	65	52
218	Admin operational support services	289	262	269	7
14	Other Expenses	50	35	52	17
(3)	Other Income	(4)	(15)	(3)	12
633	Sub Total	1,212	1,073	1,193	120
6,099	Total	7,141	5,743	5,793	50